Neelam Saxena Chandra is an engineer by profession (working in Indian Railways as Director (IT)). Writing poetry and fiction is her passion. More than four hundred of her stories/poems have been published in various leading Indian magazines such as Woman’s Era, Alive, Sarita, Grihshobha, Grihlaxmi, Naya Gyanodaya, Kathakram, Vanita, Nandan, Champak, Chandamama, Reader’s Forum, Suman Saurabh etc as well as international journals such as Torrid Literary journal, The Camel Saloon, Inspiration magazine, Ruminations journal, Tongue Journal, The Criterion, E-fiction, Enchanting Verses, Frog croon, Saraba, Ewoman etc.
Sujit: Engineer to Writer? Interesting twist? How did this happen
Neelam: It can’t actually be called a twist, since the two always coexisted. I’ve loved Mathematics as well as Literature even during my school days. Yes, I used to write even during my school days.
What I didn’t expect was that someday I would be known as one of the popular authors of the country. Writing comes to me as naturally as cooking used to come to my mom. I love spreading the dishes of my poems, stories and novels to my readers who taste it and offer me their wishes in the form of buying more and more books written by me.
Sujit : When did you find the spark for writing?
Neelam: I was a very silent child, and those who are quiet, observe more. I remember the lines of a famous nursery rhyme here,
A wise old owl sat in an oak,
The more he heard, the less he spoke;
The less he spoke, the more he heard;
Why aren't we all like that wise old bird?
I was a keen observer of human behaviour and perhaps, that made this owl turn into a writer 😉
Sujit: What is first thing you do when you sit down to begin a Story-line? Is it the form, character, or plot?
Neelam: It it’s a novel that I am writing, I have a lot of pages to build the character slowly, and I concentrate on the plot. However, for short stories, the form has to be decided first, after which character and plot come simultaneously.
Sujit: Tell us two of your greatest ‘aha’ or best moments as a writer
Neelam: The first ‘aha’ moment was winning of an award in a poetry contest in which Gulzar sahib himself was the judge and was organised by American Embassy and Arushi.
The second such moment was receiving an award by Radio City for the song “Mere Sajan Sun Sun” from Vishal Dadlani. I had written the lyrics.
Sujit: Tell us something about your family and friends, as an author how did your family and friends take up when you first started writing were there any hiccups in between...
Neelam: All my friends have been very supportive of my journey and I feel that I am a blessed person. In fact, my family encouraged me to undertake this journey. My daughter still remains my biggest critic as well as admirer.
Of course, writing eats up a lot of family moments since you have to complete certain things in time, but so far, everyone has been quite cooperative.
Sujit: Writing a poem/story requires a lot of patience and determination, along with your daily routines with your regular work structure.
Neelam: I will tell you the biggest secret of my getting time. I don’t own an idiot box. 😉
Sujit: What is the most surprising thing you discovered while writing your book(s)?
Neelam: That they would become popular enough to be on bestseller lists and hot release list!
While I was starting my journey, I had gone to 2-3 book releases and looked in awe at the authors, wondering if I will ever be even a little like them. I was even hesitant to shake hands with one of them, when he offered.
It’s only during the later part of my writing journey that I realised that I had some real admirers of my writing.
My English teacher in school, seeing my desire to read literature, would give me selected books to read. I loved Shakespeare, Erich Segal, Rabindra Nath Tagore etc.
Sujit: How do you manage fame, also being in Lima Book of Records? Nominated by Forbes 2014 as popular writer.
Neelam: Fame doesn’t sit in my head. It’s just there on some blogs on internet. My desire is to simply keep writing for I enjoy the journey. I am very much grounded as almost all those who have met me will tell you.
Sujit: What would be your advice to someone who is new to writing?
Neelam: The budding writers have to understand that they have to read a lot to be able to write well. Also, they have to have either a good experience, excellent knowledge on the subject of their choice or a wonderful imagination. They have to write convincingly; their language should be lucid and they have to feel what they write. Lack of any of the three becomes evident in their writings and the reader is sharp enough to find those faults.
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